Georgia's interior minister announced on Monday that some troops were being moved from the remote Pankisi Gorge region to Tbilisi.

Koba Narchemashvili insisted that the move was due to deteriorating weather conditions, not the political situation - but the announcement did little to ease tensions.

Protesters obstructing a railway line forced a train carrying troops to stop near the city of Telavi, about 70 kilometres (40 miles) east of the capital.

No deal

Talks between Mr Shevardnadze and three opposition parties demanding his resignation collapsed on Sunday.

Saakashvili says the president must go

The opposition leaders emerged from two hours of talks saying they would urge their supporters to keep protesting.

Mikhail Saakashvili, of the biggest opposition bloc, the National Movement, said discussions with the president had been a waste of time.

Mr Shevardnadze described the meeting as "tense but interesting" but offered to meet the leaders again later this week.

Hundreds of opposition supporters have spent days protesting on the streets of the capital.

Mr Saakashvili said a group of the demonstrators were starting an indefinite hunger strike on Monday night "to show that people are ready to go to any lengths in order that this
government steps down".

Rivals meet

On Monday, the president travelled to Batumi on the Black Sea coast meet Mr Abashidze, whose Revival party remains in second place to the president's For a New Georgia bloc, according to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission.

The two men have previously been seen as rivals, but are now thought willing to work together.